PADUCAH, KY; BOONE, NC - Two conservative religious groups with ties to the area have claimed this week that they have faced unusual scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service.

The son of Rev. Billy Graham and leaders of the Jewish organization Z Street say they believe the IRS targeted them because they advocated for conservative causes.

In a letter Tuesday to President Barack Obama, the Rev. Franklin Graham says the charities he and his father built may have received extra scrutiny from the IRS because they advocated against gay marriage. Billy Graham appeared in newspaper ads last fall urging support for candidates who oppose abortion and support the nation of Israel.

The Billy Graham Evangelical Association and Samaritan's Purse, a humanitarian relief organization, both received word of audits on the same day - not long after the BGEA ran the advertisements.

"In light of what the IRS admitted to on Friday, May 10, 2013, and subsequent revelations from other sources, I do not believe that the IRS audit of our two organizations last year is a coincidence - or justifiable," Franklin Graham wrote.

Members of Z Street filed a lawsuit in 2010 after the group's application for tax-exempt status stalled. The group's president, Lori Lowenthal Marcus, told Fox News that she believes her organization was targeted because of its views on Israel.

Mark DeMoss, a spokesman for Billy Graham, said it was was the first time the ministry had ever been audited in its history. Although the IRS eventually cleared both organizations of any suspicion, he said taxpayer money was wasted, and both organizations had to use donated funds to assist the auditors.

Ron Beaton was Chairman of the Four Rivers Celebration Executive Committee in 2007, when Franklin's son Will Graham preached in Paducah for several days. Beaton said the entire issue is troubling.

"I'm sorry that BGEA and Samaritan's Purse had to use some of their donated dollars to deal with the IRS and take time and precious resources away from the ministries that they both do so well. Both have been actively involved in our part of the country," Beaton said.

Samaritan's Purse provides disaster relief worldwide, and by some accounts did a better job than the U.S. Government helping Haitians after a devastating earthquake hit that country in 2010. The organization also runs Operation Christmas Child, which is very popular in the area. Individuals and organizations pack shoe box gifts for impoverished children, and millions of boxes are distributed worldwide each year.

Beaton, a former journalist, was also concerned about another controversy in Washington, D.C.

"It was a troubling week in general for our individual freedoms, when we found out about what had been going on with the IRS, and also the scandal with the Justice Department making the sweeping collection of Associated Press personnel's telephone numbers. Those two issues hit right at the heart of our individual freedoms."

Beaton referred to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to be "left alone" by the government, unless already specified in the U.S. Constitution. While recognizing that we all want to be kept safe, and understand national security must be maintained, Beaton said there have to be boundaries that are honored and respected, especially for members of the press to objectively report the news.

Beaton said, "We don't expect the government to be intruding unnecessarily on the freedom of the press and the freedom of all of us to find out information that we need to know. So, I hope that this certainly leads to more clear boundaries, and so that something like this doesn't happen again."

When asked if someone might have a second-thought about their involvement in a non-profit ministry because of the IRS scandal, he said it's possible, because that person might not want to be asked probing questions about private matters, or about their friends and colleagues. Beaton said these type of controversies can create more distrust in government.

"Unless it caused some people who really were bothered by this to run for office or be more involved, and to try to have people in office who would not promote intrusive searches like this - in a backwards way, there could be a small bit of good that comes out of this." Beaton said.

Where did I say he did? I state that Gingrich violated 16-6-18 of the Georgia penal code, the state which he allegedly represented. And trust me, my debauchery goes far beyond cigars and young women on the office carpet, that's not even trying very hard.

Gingrich is hardly one of my guys and I don't know or care about his consensual sex life unless it involves a minor or a subordinate in a government workplace. According to NOW, with the exception of the Clinton-Lewinski affair, there is no consensual sex when the female is a subordinate. They made an exception for their guy. There seems to be people here that are defending "their guy" on speculation on what someone else might have done in a similar situation. That is weak. Maybe we should give a pass to the couple that embezzled from the convention center because Justin Beiber might have done the same thing under similar circumstances. Gingrich did not perjure himself about having sex with a subordinate in the federal workplace. You should quit saying he did.

It never is when it's one of your guys, is it? And unless you were in the no-tell motel with them, how could you even know what level of debauchery Gingrich is capable of? He looks like the kind of fellow who might wear leather chaps or one of those leather masks the Gimp wore in Pulp Fiction. Besides it is against the law in the state he allegedly represented for unmarried persons to engage in sexual intercourse (16-6-18 of the Georgia penal code). Yet was he ever questioned under oath if he violated that law?

I find it incredulous that you would defend someone's proven actions by speculationg that someone else would have done the same thing if they had committed the same offense. It is against federal employment policy to have sex with a subordinate in the workplace, it is even more complicated because Lewinski was promoted to a position above people that were more qualified but apparently weren't blowing the boss. It is a crime to lie about it under oath. There is no comparison with Gingrich having an affair with another woman that he eventually married. Although I don't support adultry, they are not the same level of debauchery, misogyny or abuse of power.

I'm just saying that depending on if he was between wives or not, if asked about his numerous affairs under oath, I really doubt Newt Gingrich would tell the truth. Is that really so silly an idea, that a politician would lie? I think you are the only person reading this website that would find that idea incredulous.

Gingrich did not have sex with a subordinate in the workplace then lie about it under oath. Correcting someone making that accusation is hardly defending him. M C's speculation that Gingrich would have perjured himself if asked about President Clinton doing it seems silly to me but I don't have any other comment on that opinion.

Bobby, if you're defending Gingrich's behavior, you probably bought "It depends what your definition of 'is' is." as well. Pot... kettle. Or, to quote Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty: "Clowns on the left of me, jokers on the right - here I am, stuck in the middle with you..."

If you want the real news then try some internet sites. Veterans Today has a lot of contributors some of them are former government employees. Jeff Rense collects news articles from all over and has a radie interview show. What Really Happened has both news and radio show. Steve Quayle has some good news stories too. If you beleive everyting the government tells you then don't bother checking them out. Most of them are equal opportunity bashers and none of them are radical like Alex Jones.

All of your comments will not do any good.The democrate and republican party dont give a big ----.They have the power what kind of power do you have in washington.The truth is that you and i have nothing.If you had done the same thing that the IRS has done the government would want to put you in jail.Take a good look at the justice department and what they have done this should tell you what they think about your individual freedoms and Obama did not know what was going on,hogwash!

I sure agree with one part of the posting, shawn. When news media decided to crawl in bed and snuggle up with one political party or the other, they lose all credibilty. The worst of that is, as you said, we have no idea which news to believe. I think it's probably best not to believe either.

Obama has a "Rock Star" following. Rock stars can do or say anything they want and people still like them. We do not need that quality in a president. As far as the media goes I don't know who to believe anymore. NBC = Democrat and FOX = Republican. WOW what have we become!

Gerald said "The Progressive Liberal has no qualms about using whatever is necessary against their enemies." Conservatives are no better in editing emails to make their point - thus undermining any trust we have in them. Moreover, they have no qualms using Darrell Issa to do their dirty work, but when it all hit the fan about his own problems (he was wealthy enough to "pay" to cover his legal record), Reps will sell him out in a Washington minute. Blaming Obama is a smokescreen - neither party has an ounce of credibility. It's like Gingrich moving to have Clinton impeached, when he was as guilty as Clinton. Pot and Kettle.

Two problems: (1) Career politicians (Mitch McConnell being the worst offender, and showing his true colors on Meet the Press yesterday. Ditch Mitch - now!). (2) The government is simply too big to run anymore. Not just for Obama - but for anyone.

Daniel : If in fact Benghazi was supposed to be a hostage situation as Admiral Lyons said then a cover up would be necessary. Why would they want the October Surprise they were going to use to make the president look good when he rescued the hostage then went bad not covered up? Please do some research on Waco, if I remember correctly Koresch left the compond regularly and they could have easily nabbed him if they had wanted to, but instead they killed a bunch of people with a gas that is illegal to use even in war. The only ones more corrupt than the Republicans are the Democrast, and the only one more Corrupt than the democrats are the Republicans. they manage to keep us blaming everything on the other party instead of standing up and stopping them both.

The GOP edited the copy of the talking points to make it look like Obama lied. Gerald might be right on most of those cases except for Waco which was about stopping a crazy cult leader who was sleeping with underage girls. However there is no evidence. I don't read the Huffington Post. To Gerald everything leftof Sean Hannity is a liberal media.

I want to clarify my position. The American government has done things in the past that were a violation of our constitution. These were done by both Republicans and Democrats. So this, to me is NOT a liberal or conservative, democrat or republican issue. Let’s take a look at just a few of the things that our federal gov’t has done in the last 200 some years.
The feds have engaged in using citizens for secret experiments (like the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, studies about AIDS and LSD), violations of civil liberties (home invasions, excesses in the War on Terror, WACO, even the Whiskey Rebellion), not to mention the violations of our Constitution during war time (Civil War excesses, shutting down the free press in WWI, internment of Japanese, Italian German citizens in WWII), and this is not to even mention slavery and Jim Crow laws.. with all this history, we’ve seen this US government act tyrannical many, many times. It has only been our laws and our Constitution that has protected us and–in many cases–given us means of redress. We all must be vigilant or we could loose our freedoms. It makes no difference who holds power. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Speak out when you see this happening no matter which party holds the reigns of power.

Independent you nailed it. Censorship is most definitely a cancer that can target anyone, conservative, liberal, republican, or democrat. It cannot be tolerated in a free society. But as you can see the Progressive Liberal has no qualms about using whatever is necessary against their enemies. To them the ends justify the means and they will divert, obstruct, lie, & intimidate, just like Nixon did during Watergate. Nixon did the very same thing and he was forced to resign. Even the Liberal news media are fed up with this and are spending time on these stories. Notice how the Progressive Daniel said the Republicans took a copy of the talking points and doctored them to make them look like they were changed. He calls it a witch hunt. He is basing this on claims made by the Liberal Media like the Huffington Post and others. The facts remain that the attack in Benghazi left four Americans dead, including the Ambassador. The facts remain that the Obama administration, including Hillary Clinton, tried their best to blame the attack on a YouTube video. The facts remain that the attack had nothing to do with the YouTube video. The facts remain that the talking points were repeatedly scrubbed, against the advice and consent of the CIA.
Just because President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and their liberal supporters don’t want to admit that the Benghazi coverup is real, doesn’t change the facts. This is a corrupt administration that is far worse than any I have seen in my lifetime and it seems they will do anything to hold on to power.

The Obama administration sent Susan Rice out to 5 news shows and told the American people the attack was caused by a video. They knew the truth almost instantly, yet came out on every
camera available and lied to us. They really do know that most people won't question what they tell them. Susan Rice lied, Clinton lied, Obama lied. And they are still lying.
The IRS targeted conservative groups prior to the 2012 election. If you believe this administration did not know about this, believe I have Bigfoot living next door to me.
This administration secretly subpoenaed the Associated Press phone & email records.
But again the Liberal Progressive blames the Republicans. I know this is all Bush's fault.

You guys realize that the Tea Party didn't really pick up steam until 2009 and 2010. As new organizations, it's not really that surprising that they got a heightened level of scrutiny. As far as the public toleration of "scandal" with the White House, it is notable to observe that Republicans ignored many more notable Bush Administration scandals to the point that much of the public sees this news as mere partisanship. After all, Scooter Libby was Cheney's right hand man and that proven act of treason was directly traceable to the White House -- yet Republicans weren't very outraged by that abuse of power.

Daniel, do you really think that if the IRS would target Billy Graham or anybody else that they would come after you are someone you support in the same way it they chose to? As I have said many times, tyranny, censorship, career destruction, and other kinds of oppressions NEVER end where we expect them to. Those things are cancers and they will destroy everyone and everything, including this country. It is NOT ok for those kinds of things to continue even if it is the opposing side in the barrel today. Tomorrow it wll be are turn.

Oh Gerald the truth is there is no evidence this was done by the White House. What we have is one of many IRS offices was abusing its power. The people will be prosecuted. On Benghazi we now know the Republicans took a copy of the talking points and doctored them up to look like they were changed. This is a witch hunt plain and simple. Get used to saying Madame President in four years.

Daniel you are a sad little man. Your only comment on this story is to condemn the victim not the IRS. As usual you give this administration a pass. Wonder if you would feel the same way if the IRS was targeting atheists? When the IRS starts targeting any American for their political or religious views we are all in trouble. Let the IRS come knocking at your door and see if you still think it is ok, Most Americans can see this is dangerous. Anyone who thinks this was not done at the request of the Obama administration has blinders on. Of course it was. They lied about Benghazi and they will lie about this. Typical Chicago politics. Lie, distract, obstruct, discredit the messenger, do whatever it takes to win an election and hold onto power.

Bobby M; Isn't this the usual pattern of behavior. You have a big story that you want people to forget so you keep coming up with new things to make you forget the one's that are real killers. Admiral Lyons said it was supposed to be a kidnapping, hostage rescue, October surprise, re-elect me scanerio that went wrong. The IRs targeting people who don't agree with the administration has been going on for years as has the wire tapping. A couple of targeted leaks will distract us from Benghazi. Isn't it the same with a new shooting spree or bombing? Didn't clinton like to bomb new places to distract us from his latest scandal? This article has two components to get people stirred up Billy Graham and Jewish. That is to get a little outrage on this subject and distract us.

IRS employees are union. Unions despise TEA Party, conservatives and the constitution. The union bosses were doing the presidents bidding in the IRS scandal. Trumka has been in the white house more times Biden.

Only the biggest apologists don't have a problem with this pattern of behavior. Even people with little character are bothered; only ones with no character think it is no big deal - or worse - openly supporting it.

Do we have a couple of new scandals to take our minds off Benghazi? After what Admiral James Lynos said, I bet it won't work this time. How long have they been giving us small new scandals to get our little minds off the big ones.

Tyrants, censors, and others who like to punish others they disagree with never expect that those kinds of things will land on their own doorsteps. They see themselves in some kind of "inner circle" and honestly believe they that will never fall prey to the tyranny. They even feel justified in picking and choosing who to "investigate" or otherwise victimize. The thing these people never seem to remember is that tyranny, censorship, and other destructive behaviors never ends where they expect it will.